The untapped cell phone segment for youth ages 12-22
Dr. Martin Cooper the inventor of the cellular phone once said, " what better thing can you do in your life than try to change the world? (1)" That is exactly what he did when in 1973 he created the first working prototype of a cellular telephone (2). It was not until 1983 however that the first cell phone became commercially available. Ironically, when cellular phones were first released their primary target market was business people. Then, as the phones became more readily available, the target market began to slowly shift towards the entire adult population. This shift was initially responsible for the huge increase in cell phone utilization. The first four years of its release saw the market of cell phone customers grow to one million people. By 1998, this number had exploded to 69 million. A mere eighteen years later, it is a startling fact that 230 million cell phone subscribers exist around the world. These numbers prove that cellular phone use has increased over the past few decades and with the media attention they received throughout the recent disasters as a strong, reliable communications tool, we can assume more increases in future cell phone use patterns among the whole population as a trend.
Another trend that has developed in the last couple of years is the increased use of cell phones among teens. This increase however was not expected or planned by the cell phone marketers. It happened unexpectedly and without the cell phone manufacturers' attempt to target the youth. This trend has huge potential yet to be tapped by cell phone manufacturers. Since the targeting of the adult population by cell phone advertisement was a success, I believe that Erickson should target the teenage market. Erickson could then be the first company to cash in on these potential profits. My belief is that the youth segment has tremendous room for growth potential in cell phon...